National Parks should be free to visit

Published: 4 June 2025

A recent news article has raised questions about introducing an entry fee for visiting the Peak District National Park in response to another crippling year of budget cuts. 

National Parks in England have been starved of resources, suffering a brutal 40% funding cut in real terms since 2010. While a recent £15m package for nature is a welcome boost, it has been completely undermined by a simultaneous 9% cut to National Parks’ core budgets this year compared to last – making it nearly impossible for them to deliver the vital services and protections they are tasked with. 

While the cuts have been leading to agonising decisions such as selling off publicly owned land and closing visitor services, introducing an entry fee is not the solution. 

When National Parks were established 75 years ago, it was so that all citizens, no matter their background, could immerse themselves in the wonders of nature. Introducing a visitor entry fee would fundamentally undermine why National Parks were created. A fee could easily become a financial barrier and dictate who can and cannot access our most treasured landscapes. 

Properly funded National Parks

As a priority National Parks need to be properly funded so that they can deliver for people, nature and planet. Despite bringing huge benefits in terms of health and wellbeing, and billions of pounds and thousands of jobs to support rural economies, they’re still undervalued and undermined by consecutive budget cuts. 

As a priority National Parks need to be properly funded by the Government, but there are clear examples of how the tourism economy could support National Parks to thrive. The Report, Who Pays for the Lake District? shows that there are several different ways that money can be raised, based on case studies from around the world. These include: a tax on overnight stays, a visitor vehicle levy charge, a visitor parking charge, or the development of a tourist improvement district. The forthcoming Devolution Bill for the Westminster government would provide an opportunity to give local authorities the power to take ideas forward in partnership with National Park Authorities. The hundred million visits to National Parks each year could become a force for recovery, for nature and ourselves.  

Welsh Government is currently taking a visitor levy bill through the Senedd which will enable local authorities to implement a levy on overnight accommodation stays in Wales. The revenue will be ring-fenced for spending on important visitor infrastructure in their areas. Although we support the bill, we have been campaigning to ensure that National Park Authorities get a fair piece of the pie though this new levy, as the bill does not currently guarantee the involvement of National Park Authorities in the implementation or use of the the levy’s revenue. A new Visitor Levy Partnership Forum has been proposed in response by Welsh Government and we continue to call on Welsh Government to implement an improved duty of regard so that Local Authorities further the purposes of National Parks.  

At Campaign for National Parks we would support the introduction of a visitor levy (otherwise known as bed tax) but the money must be reinvested into the National Parks and the levy must be progressive to ensure the increase in cost to stay in minimal for those with lower incomes i.e. much smaller tax on stays in places like hostels compared to larger tax on stays in luxury hotels.